Basic Kitchen Tips I Want to Pass on to My Son

While my son is still young, I have been compiling a list of things I would like to tell him when he leaves home. Tips on life.

Here are the basic ones from the kitchen, whether it be a grand affair in the home or a tiny space on a table in a dorm room.

Put the noodles in AFTER the water is boiling. Not before.

Don’t try and frost a hot cake out of the oven. It will just be upsetting. Wait ‘til it cools.

Squeeze out your sponge after every use and have some sort of draining stand for it to sit on and air out or you will have ‘stinky’ sponge hands every time you use it.

Cut and slice things on a cutting board, carefully away from your body and all extremities. Don’t slice the bagel in your hand with the bagel braced against your body. Think about it.

Use a different cutting board for meat than you do for vegetables, preferably a smooth unpitted one. This will limit cross contamination and help keep your food safe and your guests alive.

All dishes should be washed in hot, soapy water or a dish washer on a regular basis. Not weekly. You WILL attract bugs to your kitchen, no matter where you live, if you do not.

Follow the directions on the box, no matter what you are attempting to make or how sure you are that you are right and the manufacturer who made the product is wrong.

Baking soda and baking powder are two different things and should not be used interchangeably. Tbsp.-is a Tablespoon and is the big one.

tsp.-is a teaspoon and is the little one.

A ‘cup’ when cooking is a specific measurement, and not just any old mug or cup filled to the brim.

Pie crusts can be just as good coming out of a box, and you will have so much more hair after your pie is done, as opposed to trying to make one your own.

An egg-separator can easily be an egg shell. You don’t need to buy one.

Kitchen tools you will need and use all the time-vegetable peeler, cheese grater, egg timer (not just for eggs), potato masher, can opener, a really good skillet with a lid, a really good sauce pan with a lid, a metal spatula, a whisk, microwavable dishes with fitting lids.

Waffle irons can be your best friends in a collage dorm room, and there is no better way to make friends on a Saturday morning in a co-ed dorm, than to be the bringer of fresh waffles.

Pay attention to all the food you are preparing, whether it is for you to eat or for someone else. Feeding yourself well is self-preservation. Feeding others well is an act of love and friendship and should never be taken lightly.

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